RY 

YOF 


REV.    DR.    BETHUNE'S^* 
ADDRESS. 

ARTISTS'  FUND  SOCIETY  OF  PHILADELPHIA. 

1840. 


THE  nOSPBCB  OF  ART  IX  THE  CXITED  STATES. 


ADBRE  — 


ARTISTS"  FUND  SOCIETY  OF  PHTT.ADELPin  V 


OPENING  OF  THEIR  EXHIBITION. 


MAY. 


BY  GEORGE  W.  BETHTXt 


PHILADELPHIA: 
PMXTED  FOB  THE  AJmSTTS"  FTXD  SOCIETY. 


KJ 

£ 

84- 


ADDRESS. 


Mr.  President, 

and  Gentlemen,  Members  of  the  Artists'  Fund  Society. 

I  know  that  I  express  the  feelings  of  many  others, 
in  congratulating  you  warmly  on  the  prosperity  of 
your  Association.  The  opening  of  your  new  and 
commodious  Hall  of  Exhibition,  on  a  site  very  gene 
rously  secured  to  you  by  the  Academy  of  Fine  Arts, 
with  the  rich  collection  of  your  own  more  recent  and 
beautiful  works  now  arranged  within  it,  gives  assu 
rance  of  your  successful  zeal  in  the  past,  and  war 
rants  the  best  hopes  for  the  future.  You  need  no 
longer  complain  that  you  are  without  a  resting  place 
and  home,  and  the  scandal  of  seeming  alienation 
between  a  Society  of  Artists  and  a  Society  of  the 
friends  of  Art,  has  ceased.  We  now  see  that, 
though  there  may  be  different  views  of  policy,  a 
sincere  desire  to  promote  the  healthful  growth  of 
Art,  binds  you  together  in  a  union,  perhaps  the 
stronger,  because  without  a  literal  covenant.  Kind 
ness  has  been  proffered,  and  kindness  has  been 
accepted.  You  have  shown  yourselves  above  that 


petty  pride  which  refuses  honourable  aid  in  a  good 
cause;  and  the  Academy  have  shown  their  willing 
ness  that  you  should  be  set  before  the  public  in  a 
good  light,  even  at  the  expense  of  being  thrown 
themselves  into  the  back  ground.  So  close  a  neigh 
bourhood,  formed  in  such  circumstances,  cannot  fail 
to  be  fruitful  of  good  offices. 

The  fact,  that,  as  associated  Artists,  you  are  con 
scious  of  sufficient  strength  to  assume  the  entire 
management  of  your  own  interests,  is,  in  itself,  cheer 
ing.  For  if  it  be  true,  that  since  The  Painters  of 
Siena  were  chartered  in  1355,  under  those  admi 
rable  statutes  for  the  government  of  the  profession 
which,  for  truth  and  clearness,  have  never  been  sur 
passed,  Artists  have  proved  themselves  to  be  the  best 
judges  of  what  the  honour  of  the  Arts  may  demand, 
it  should  also  be  remembered,  that  in  their  earlier 
infancy,  they  have  always  needed  and  sought  kindly 
nurture  from  those  who  have  the  taste  to  admire, 
and  the  means  to  reward,  what  they  have  not  the 
happy  genius  to  execute. 

It  is  not  until  the  friends  of  Art  have  become 
numerous  through  the  influence  of  Art,  that  Artists 
can  be  independent  of  the  few.  They  must  them 
selves  form  the  general  taste  upon  which  they  are 
to  live,  and  that  can  be  done  only  by  constant  and 
patient  addresses  to  the  public  eye,  in  works  of 
genuine  merit.  Taste  is  governed  by  sentiment, 
rather  than  professional  dictation.  You  can  neither 


write,  nor  lecture  us  into  a  sense  of  Art;  but  your 
brush  or  chisel  may  win,  when  the  best  pen  and 
most  eloquent  tongue  can  avail  nothing.  In  illus 
tration  of  this,  how  many  a  traveller  from  this 
western  world,  who,  at  home,  listened  incredulously 
to  high-wrought  descriptions  of  the  great  masters, 
has,  in  one  hour  spent  between  the  Transfiguration 
and  the  Communion  of  St.  Jerome,  felt  within  him 
the  birth  of  a  passion  for  Art,  lasting  as  life?  But 
then  again  how  very  few,  except  the  learned  artist, 
practised  critic,  or  observant  anatomist,  can  enter 
at  once  into  the  merits  of  Michel  Angelo?  They 
may  have  studied  the  hundred  volumes  which  have 
been  written  upon  his  works  and  genius;  they  may 
have  conned  by  heart  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds'  lectures, 
and  prepared  themselves  to  exclaim,  as  the  doors  of 
the  Sistine  opened  before  them, 

"  Michel  piu  che  mortel ! 
Angel  divino !" 

but  if  any  home-returned  tourists,  garrulous  of  foreign 
wonders  and  themselves,  pretend  that  they  fell  into 
ecstacies  on  their  first  visit  to  the  chapel,  we  need 
scarcely  doubt  that 

"  They  talk  of  beauties  which  they  never  saw, 
And  fancy  raptures  which  they  never  knew." 

We  are  willing  to  believe  Michel  Angelo  the  first 
of  Artists,  because  that  rank  is  given  him  by  those 


who  are  the  best  judges,  and  perhaps,  in  time,  we 
might  be  educated  into  an  appreciation  of  his  great 
ness;  yet,  until  then,  it  is  a  matter  of  faith.  But 
when  critics  tell  us  of  the  mild  .glories  of  Raffaelle, 
sublime  in  his  serenity,  or  of  Domenichino's  touching 
truth,  making  the  beholder  tremulous  with  sympathy, 
we  yield  a  ready  assent,  because  we  can  feel  them. 
Gentlemen,  you  must  make  us  feel  Art,  and  after 
wards  we  shall  be  glad  to  hear  from  you  homilies 
upon  taste. 

One  good  Artist  sows  the  seed  of  a  liberal  harvest 
for  many  successors,  not  only  by  the  encouragement 
of  his  example,  but  by  the  excitement  which  his 
works  give  to  the  public  appetite  for  the  pleasures  of 
Art.  Collections,  such  as  you  exhibit  each  season, 
made  up  from  your  various  departments  and  styles, 
and  thus  addressed  to  our  various  taste  and  capa 
city  to  enjoy,  must,  as  indeed  experience  has  shown, 
call  forth  the  latent  love  of  many  an  eye  and  mind 
for  beauty  of  form,  colour,  and  composition.  Some 
scene  of  quiet  nature,  with  its  bending  trees  mingling 
their  shadows  in  the  placid  waters;  or  gorgeous  land 
scape  of  rich  autumnal  hues,  such  as  visit  no  land 
but  ours;  or  sea  piece,  where  the  struggling  vessel 
heaves  and  tosses  on  waves  which  foam  around  her, 
as  the  brush  of  Birch  can  give  them  action,  will 
excite  a  desire  that  other  spots,  endeared  by  tender 
associations;  or  remembered  view,  which  we  lingered 
long  to  gaze  upon  and  sighed  to  leave;  or  thrilling 


incident  of  former  adventure  might  be  present,  by 
the  magic  of  your  art,  when  the  reality  is  far  distant, 
or  long  since  past.  The  marble,  which,  to  an  un 
practised  eye  seems  cold  and  inexpressive,  from  its 
polished  pureness  and  classic  severity,  when  wrought 
into  the  form  and  features  of  the  great  we  revere,  or 
the  faithful  we  have  cherished,  will  soon  assert  its 
power  to  give  superior  dignity,  or  spiritual  tenderness, 
to  memorials  of  virtue,  loveliness,  and  truth.  If  the 
portrait  of  one  dear  friend  speak  to  us  from  the  can 
vass,  how  natural  is  the  wish  that  graphic  images  of 
all  who  form  the  circle  of  affection  should  remain, 
when  the  grave  shall  have  hidden  their  decaying  dust? 
Filial  piety  will  entreat  you  to  trace  the  venerable 
countenance  of  the  parent  whose  race  is  nearly  run; 
the  mother,  to  secure  her  a  longer  enjoyment  of  her 
child's  infantile  graces;  and  the  husband  and  father, 
to  combine  for  him  in  loving  group  his  pleasing  wife 
and  circling  offspring. 

Fed  by  such  grateful  indulgence,  may  we  not  hope 
that  a  growing  taste  and  liberality  will  learn  to  ap 
preciate  the  noble  talent  of  Epic  composition?  Then, 
instead  of  being  content  with  hanging  upon  his  walls 
mere  family  likenesses,  which,  however  gratifying 
they  may  be  to  affection,  the  painter's  skill  can  rare 
ly  invest  with  grace  or  dignity,  the  lover  of  his  coun 
try  and  of  virtue  will  seek  to  impress  his  own,  and 
the  young  minds  of  his  household,  with  scenes  of 
American  glory,  and  the  attractive  teachings  of  pic- 


8 

tured  morals;  admiring  citizens  will  combine  their 
gratitude,  and  place  high  upon  pedestals  of  honour 
statues  of  our  heroes  and  sages,  inviting  posterity  to 
unite  with  them  in  doing  homage  to  public  virtue, 
and  in  learning  lessons  of  patriotic  devotion;  and 
legislatures,  representing  a  generous  public  spirit, 
warrant  the  employment  of  genius  in  giving  majesty 
to  halls  of  office,  and  elegance  to  resorts  of  the 
people. 

It  is  melancholy  to  think  of  the  talent  which  now 
lies  dormant  among  yourselves,  gentlemen,  for  want 
of  encouragement;  and  to  see  in  your  annual  cata 
logues  such  a  repetition  of  "Portrait  of  a  Lady;" 
"Portrait  of  a  Gentleman;"  when  we  know  that 
some,  at  least,  of  the  pencils  which  produced  them 
are  capable  of  far  higher  achievement.  But  in  a 
country  like  ours,  where  there  are  no  princely  houses 
and  few  large  fortunes,  you  cannot  hope  for  great 
advances  in  the  public  feeling  of  Art,  but  by  reaching 
the  people  generally.  In  the  present  state  of  political 
controversy  (and  there  is  little  prospect  of  a  speedy 
amendment)  the  expenditure  of  public  money  upon 
works  of  Art  would  expose  the  best  administration  to 
defeat  from  the  virulent  assaults  and  impeachments 
of  opposing  partisans,  many  of  whom  know  better, 
but  are  willing  to  use  any  methods,  however  mean, 
of  political  advancement.  The  people  would  be 
persuaded  by  their  sophistries,  that  nothing  should 
receive  the  public  patronage,  but  that  which  is  imme- 


9 

diately  and  palpably  useful;  and  that,  contrary  to 
the  suffrage  of  all  history,  the  Arts,  which  refine  and 
beautify,  are  unworthy  the  regard  of  simple  republi 
cans.  This  prejudice,  so  fostered,  can  only  be  met 
among  the  people  themselves,  by  a  wide  diffusion  of 
Art  in  its  cheaper  forms.  It  might,  with  truth,  be 
affirmed  that  the  same  statues  which  were  the  admi 
ration  of  Athenian  democrats,  or  now  delight  the 
houseless  lazaroni  of  Naples,  could  not  stand  in  our 
public  squares  without  mutilation  until  to-morrow 
morning.  There  is  brutality  enough  among  us  to 
count  it  a  good  joke  to  knock  off  the  nose  of  the 
Medicean  Venus,  or  decapitate  the  Antinous.  Yet 
the  love  of  Art  is  indigenous  to  no  particular  soil; 
nor  is  it  inherently  confined  to  any  particular  race. 
The  child's  pleasure  in  his  picture-book,  and  the 
crowds  which  gather  before  the  print-shop  window, 
prove  that  there  is  an  innate  taste,  which  needs  but  to 
be  cultivated  to  acquire  force  in  any  land.  It  is  the 
habit  of  contemplating  works  of  Art  which,  in  the 
course  of  years,  forms  the  public  taste  for  Art.  The 
decorations  and  symmetry  of  their  public  temples, 
and  their  public  memorials  of  heroic  deeds  and  ances 
tral  glory,  taught  the  Greeks  to  identify  encourage 
ment  of  Art  with  religion  and  love  of  country.  Italy, 
before  Grecian  genius  shone  upon  Etruria,  was  bar 
barous  and  blind ;  and  the  Roman,  as  he  first  appear 
ed,  was  only  stern  and  warlike.  Even  in  the  time  of 
Augustus  we  read  of  no  successful  native  Artist, 

B 


10 

where,  in  more  modern  centuries,  such  glories  of  ge 
nius  have  shone;  where  now  the  roughest  lithograph 
bears  the  stamp  of  merit,  and  the  poorest  peasant, 
crushed  as  he  is  by  despotic  rule,  swells  with  the 
thought  that  the  land  which  schools  the  world  in  Art 
is  his  own.  The  same  change,  despite  of  our  Anglo- 
Saxon  lineage,  may  pass  over  us,  and  with  more  than 
Grecian  freedom,  and  ancient  Roman  valour,  we  may 
acquire  the  taste  to  feel  that  national  character  loses 
nothing  of  its  dignity  by  being  draped  with  grace. 

Yet,  I  repeat,  this  can  only  be  accomplished  by 
reaching  the  mass  of  our  people  who  must  control 
the  national  sentiment.  Modern  improvements  in  Art 
furnish  great  facilities  for  this  work  of  refinement.* 
Those,  whose  means  are  too  narrow  to  purchase 
original  designs,  can  find  a  cheap,  but  delightful  gra 
tification  from  the  engraver's  art,  so  successfully  cul 
tivated  by  some  of  our  own  countrymen,  among  whom 
are  estimable  associates  of  your  own.  Engraving  is 
the  true  child  of  Painting, 

"Mater,  pulchra  filia,  pulchrior;" 

and  with  filial  zeal  does  she  advance  her  mother's 
honour.  Indeed,  the  burin  deserves  far  higher  esti 
mation,  gratitude  and  encouragement,  than  we  are 
wont  to  give  it,  for  bringing  within  the  reach  of 
many,  what  must  otherwise  have  remained  the  pri 
vilege  of  a  few,  and  thus  preparing  the  way  for  a 

*  Appendix  (A.) 


11 

wide-spread  influence  of  higher  Art.  A  good  en 
graving  of  a  good  picture,  in  its  effect  on  the  mind, 
is  incomparably  superior  to  a  painting  of  ordinary 
merit.  It  gives  us  the  drawing,  the  shadows,  the 
composition  and  air  of  the  master,  refining  the  eye 
and  taste,  perhaps  the  more,  because  the  colouring 
is  not  imitated.  If  it  be  true,  as  a  critic  of  the  best 
rank  has  asserted,  that  a  connoisseur  in  prints  is 
more  than  half  accomplished  as  a  judge  of  painting, 
it  must  also  be  true  that  a  general  diffusion  of  good 
prints  would  secure  a  general  relish  for  Art  in  its 
more  elevated  and  original  forms.  The  painter,  there 
fore,  should  regard  the  engraver  as  his  best  friend, 
and  one  who,  never  aspiring  to  be  a  rival,  is  content 
to  serve  under  his  shadow  for  a  humble  portion  of  the 
larger  profit  and  praise  which  he  assists  to  win. 

It  is  certainly  most  pleasing  for  the  generous  ad 
mirer  of  Art,  and  lover  of  human  happiness,  to  think 
of  the  vast  numbers,  whom  the  ingenuity  of  recent 
years  has  admitted  to  a  share  in  his  enjoyments. 
The  prolific  family  of  Annuals,  long  after  their  feeble 
literature  has  ceased  to  attract,  amuse  and  delight 
by  their  elegant  embellishments  the  vacant  hours  of 
those,  who  have  received  those  offerings  of  affection, 
and  of  the  visiter,  who  awaits,  beside  their  centre 
tables,  the  anxious  toilet's  slow  delay.  The  very 
bullionist  smoothes  his  brow  while  contemplating  the 
bank  note's  graceful  ornaments,  and  though  lament 
ing  that 


12 

"  So  fair 

A  promise  should  deceive  th'  admiring  trust, 
And  be  not  what  it  seems," 

must  confess  that  the  vignette  is  worth  something, 
though  the  security  be  never  so  doubtful.     The  in 
vention  of  lithography,  and  the  great  advance  in 
wood-cutting,  besides  the  service  they  render  to  sci 
ence,  have  enlivened  with  glimpses  of  Art  the  walls 
of  many  a  humble  dwelling,  once  poor  and  mean; 
and  allure  the  tasteful  school-boy  through  a  flow 
ery  maze  to  orthography  and  syntax,  which  it  re 
quired  our  utmost  courage  to  approach,  when  the 
aditus  to  their  mysteries  was  guarded  by  a  frowning 
?  vera  effigies"  of  Noah  Webster,  unlike  any  possi 
ble  thing  but  a  nightmare  realization  of  the  nursery 
hobgoblin.     The  Penny  Magazines,  as  they  are  pub 
lished  in  Europe,  (and  I  hope  soon  to  be  able  to  say 
in  this  country  also,)  carry  to  the  poorest  of  the 
people,  wood  engravings  of  master  pieces  in  Art,  and 
specimens  of  natural  history,  which  the  most  finished 
critic  would  not  disdain  to  admire;  and  there  may 
be  as  much  heartfelt  enjoyment  in  the  evening  circle 
of  the  poor  man's  home,  around  a  fresh-cut  number 
of  the  weekly  visiter,  as  an  amateur  can  feel  before 
a  Corregio  or  a  Claude.     I  have  often  thought  that 
I  could  forego  the  pleasure  of  listening  to  Mozart's 
best  overture,  for  the  sake  of  witnessing  the  delight 
dancing  in  the  eyes,  and  dimpling  the  cheeks  of  a 
group  of  country  children  around  a  Savoyard's  hand- 


13 

organ,  or  some  unwashed  minstrels  singing  the  songs 
of  their  far-off  Rhine;  but,  I  am  sure  that  I  never  see 
an  Italian  cast-monger  staggering  beneath  his  load  of 
Graces  and  Napoleons,  Tuscan  vases,  Walter  Scotts 
and  Dianas,  without  wishing  him  well  as  an  uncon 
scious  missionary  of  Art,  come  from  his  sunny  land 
to  minister  pleasure  to  the  lowly,  and  refinement  to 
the  rude;  for,  though  the  moulds,  from  which  they  are 
taken,  be  worn  and  old,  his  casts  yet  retain  something 
of  the  stamp  of  genius,  and  give  sufficient  gratifica 
tion  to  excite  a  wish  for  more.  The  lithographs  may 
be  rude  and  gaudy,  cinerary  urns  be  turned  into 
flower  vases,  goddesses  made  to  hold  candles,  and 
cross-legged  Cupids  to  read  little  books;  but  you  will 
rarely  find,  in  a  humble  family,  a  taste  for  these 
ornaments  unaccompanied  by  neatness,  temperance, 
and  thrift.  They  are  like  the  cherished  plants  in 
the  window,  the  green  creepers  in  the  yard,  or  the 
caged  singing-bird  on  the  wall,  signs  of  a  fondness 
for  home,  and  a  desire  to  cultivate  those  virtues 
which  make  home  peaceful  and  happy. 

But,  gentlemen,  independently  of  benevolent  consi 
derations,  we  must  not  allow  ourselves  to  despise  such 
methods  of  Art,  because  we  have  been  educated  by 
fortunate  circumstances,  or  inspired,  as  you  are,  by  a 
more  fortunate  genius  to  perceive  its  higher  beauties. 
It  is  chiefly  from  them,  that  we  must  hope  for  the 
awakening  of  a  national  taste.  The  ancient  states 
where  Art  most  flourished,  were  small  in  territory. 


14 

Every  citizen  of  Attica  could  look  often  upon  the 
glories  of  the  Parthenon  and  the  Poecile.  The  tem 
ples  of  Elis,  of  Delphi,  and  the  sacred  Delos,  and  even 
the  desert  shrine  of  the  Lybian  Ammon,  attracted 
vast  crowds  of  religious  pilgrims.  The  various  pub 
lic  games  brought  together  the  most  generous  youth 
and  sage  elders,  not  merely  to  engage  in  exercises 
which  displayed  the  finest  forms  in  the  finest  atti 
tudes,  but  also  to  enjoy  the  poet's  noblest  lays,  the 
painter's  best  pictures,  and  the  sculptor's  most  finish 
ed  works.  The  aristocratic  forms  of  Europe  call 
around  the  sovereign  in  his  capital  those  who  repre 
sent  the  wealth  and  power  of  the  nation,  and  it  is 
both  policy  and  pride  which  employs  Art  to  give  mag 
nificence  to  abodes  of  authority,  and  to  cover  with 
grace  the  deformities  of  oppressive  rule.  Our  people, 
on  the  contrary,  are  widely  scattered.  We  have,  and 
can  have,  but  few  great  cities,  and  none  of  general  re 
sort.  The  country,  in  national  questions,  must  rule 
the  town.  Large  wealth  can  rarely  be  acquired,  and 
yet  more  rarely  be  transmitted  to  a  third  generation. 
Happily  for  our  liberties,  the  political  power  must  re 
main  with  those  who  are  not  beyond  the  necessity  of 
personal  toil.  As,  therefore,  the  influence  of  the  pen 
cil  and  the  chisel  can  reach  immediately  but  few,  the 
many  are  to  be  sought  out  by  means  which  admit 
of  greater  multiplication  and  wider  extent.  Yet  we. 
may  believe,  that  if  our  people  could  have  placed 
before  them  such  cheap  exhibitions  of  Art,  and  were 


15 

at  the  same  time  made  acquainted  with  the  estima 
tion  in  which  Art  was  held  by  the  ancient  republics, 
and  the  best  minds  of  all  ages;  the  glory  with  which 
it  has  invested  nations ;  the  patriotism  it  has  inspired, 
and  the  lucrative  advantages  it  has  secured;  they 
would  become  as  distinguished  for  a  generous  taste, 
as  they  are  for  a  love  of  freedom.  Obscure  genius, 
which  might  otherwise  have  died  unknown  in  some 
distant  forest  hamlet,  may  be  called  forth  and  encou 
raged  into  successful  vigour,  as  was  the  talent  of 
young  West  by  a  few  engravings  of  Grevling.  Each 
new  aspirant  after  the  distinctions  or  pleasures  of 
Art,  would  be  a  centre  of  new  influence  over  the 
minds  of  others.  We  should  learn  to  have  a  grateful 
pride  in  the  praise  given  to  American  Art  abroad, 
and  desire  to  wipe  off  the  dishonouring  imputation, 
that  American  Artists  must  go  abroad  to  obtain  a  just 
appreciation.  Thus,  in  time,  the  sentiment  would 
become  so  general  and  so  strong,  that  the  scholar 
who  records  our  country's  story;  the  painter  who 
illustrates  its  grand  events;  the  sculptor  who  perpe 
tuates  in  undying  marble  the  forms  of  our  mighty 
dead;  the  orator  whose  glowing  arguments  persuade 
us  to  the  pursuit  of  their  examples;  the  poet  whose 
bold  minstrelsy  animates  our  patriotic  ardour,  and 
the  architect,  whose  genius  sheds  venerable  grace 
over  our  shrines  of  devotion,  our  seats  of  learning, 
and  our  halls  of  authority,  (showing  us,  as  in  a  con 
stant  parable,  that  stability  ever  resides  in  strength 


16 

combined  with  harmony,)  shall  be  deemed  worthy  to 
share  the  high  regard  of  their  fellow  citizens  with 
the  warrior  who  sheds  his  blood,  and  the  statesman 
who  devotes  his  far-sighted  wisdom  for  their  coun 
try's  welfare.  He,  who  preserves  and  blesses  his 
country  in  peace,  is  certainly  equal  to  him  who  fights 
for  it  in  war;  and  he,  who  inspires  or  increases  a 
reverence  for  laws,  to  him  who  writes  and  prescribes 
them. 

There  is  very  great  reason  to  believe  in  the  future 
success  of  Art  among  us.  Our  people,  when  excited 
in  any  pursuit,  allow  no  limits  to  their  enthusiasm, 
and  have  shown  themselves  inferior  to  none  in  va 
riety  of  genius  and  courage  of  enterprise.  Hitherto 
their  attention  has  been  compelled  to  engagements 
of  more  immediate  usefulness,  by  the  necessities  of 
our  new  confederacy  and  numerous  state  govern 
ments,  the  rush  of  our  increasing  population,  the 
wealth  hidden  beneath  our  original  forests,  the  faci 
lity  afforded  to  manufactures  by  the  rapid  descent  of 
many  a  broad  stream,  the  desire  of  bringing  distant 
points  nearer  together,  and  of  interlacing  our  interests 
by  rail-roads  and  canals,  and  the  agitation  of  many 
questions  in  finance  and  political  morals,  which  have 
never  arisen  elsewhere,  but  must  be  decided  by  us. 
Yet  how  great  have  been  the  honours  already  at 
tained,  I  had  well  nigh  said  compelled,  from  the 
world?  The  name  which,  by  the  unanimous  suffrage 
of  mankind,  stands  highest  on  the  roll  of  uninspired 


17 

humanity,  is  that  of  Washington.  He  who,  since 
the  day  of  Newton,  has  given  the  strongest  impulse 
to  the  application  of  physical  science,  made  his  bold 
experiments  on  the  lightning  of  heaven  from  the 
plains  near  our  own  city,  and  sleeps  beneath  his  mo 
dest  tomb  in  a  corner  of  Christ  Church  burial-ground ; 
whither  the  stranger  from  every  land,  and  the  dweller 
in  his  own,  turn  their  pilgrim  feet  to  do  honour  to  the 
memory  of  the  Yankee  adventurer,  the  apprentice 
printer,  the  poor  man's  honest  counsellor,  the  Phila 
delphia  editor,  the  American  statesman,  the  baffler  of 
European  diplomacy,  and  the  philosopher  who  taught 
the  world.  The  authority  of  Marshall  and  Kent 
receives  reverence  from  every  great  and  just  tri 
bunal.  Improvements  in  jurisprudence  made  among 
us,  and  especially  within  our  own  state,  have  been 
the  basis  (unacknowledged  but  not  the  less  real) 
of  extensive  judicial  reforms  in  that  very  country 
which  claims  to  have  taught  us  all  we  know.*  The 
name  of  Irving  is  already  coupled  with  that  of  Ad- 
dison;  and  in  a  single  day,  as  it  were,  Prescott  has 
risen  to  take  his  place  with  Gibbon  and  Hume,  while, 
for  truth  of  narrative  and  benevolence  of  feeling,  he 
is  above  them  both.  The  genius  of  Bowditch  burns 
brightly  near  the  compass  and  the  quadrant  of  almost 
every  bark  that  tempts  the  trackless  ocean.  The 
mighty  energies  of  steam,  first  successfully  applied 

*  Appendix  (B.) 
C 


18 

to  navigation  by  our  own  Fulton,  now  speeds  the 
flying  car  over  the  rail-ways  of  Europe,  controlled 
and  directed  by  the  superior  ingenuity  of  American 
skill.  The  exquisite  invention  of  Daguerre,  recent  as 
it  is,  shall  soon  be  returned  to  him  from  this  western 
world,  stripped  of  half  its  mechanical  arrangements, 
and  capable  of  a  more  ready  and  useful  adaptation. 
These  instances,  snatched  at  random  from  a  multi 
tude,  prove  that  there  is  among  our  people  a  boldness 
and  originality  of  invention,  which  cannot  fail  to  se 
cure  great  success  in  the  liberal  arts,  when  more 
favourable  circumstances  demand  their  more  zealous 
cultivation.  Even  now  the  catalogue  of  American 
Artists  must  be  regarded  with  great  respect  when  we 
read  upon  it  such  names  as  those  of  President  West, 
Copely,  Stuart,  Allston,  Newton,  Harding,  Cole, 
Greenough,  Inman,  and  others,*  of  whose  talents  my 
inferior  knowledge  will  not  permit  me  to  pronounce 
an  opinion,  or  whose  modest  worth  I  must  not  cause 
to  blush,  even  by  just  praise,  when  I  see  them  pre 
sent. 

The  Arts,  indeed,  have  made  surprising  progress 
in  the  United  States,  when  we  consider  the  tempta 
tions  which  opportunities  of  wealth  and  political 
distinction  offer  to  men  of  genius,  and  the  poverty 
of  reward,  whether  of  honour  or  gain,  which  our 
countrymen  have  had  the  leisure  or  means  to  bestow 

*  Appendix  (C.) 


19 

upon  them.  In  none,  perhaps,  is  this  more  apparent, 
than  in  the  noble  and  useful  art  of  architecture. 
Mr.  Verplanck,  in  his  admirable  discourse  before  the 
New  York  Academy,  at  the  opening  of  their  exhibi 
tion  in  1824,  quotes  the  strong  language  of  Mr. 
Jefferson,  that  "  the  genius  of  architecture  seems  to 
have  shed  its  malediction  over  this  land;"  and  the 
accomplished  friend  of  Art,  confirms  the  sentence. 
But  since  that  address  was  delivered,  a  change  has 
passed  over  us,  and  the  power  of  the  curse  has  been 
greatly  diminished.  The  simple  grandeur  of  the 
Doric,  the  feminine  dignity  of  the  Ionic,  and  the 
leafy  grace  of  the  Corinthian,  as  they  have  been 
presented  to  us  by  the  labours  of  those  of  our  coun 
trymen,  who  have  gone  back  through  ages  of  bar 
barism  to  find  masters  in  the  Grecian  schools,  have 
already  done  much  to  win  us  from  our  childish  fond 
ness  for  modern  frippery.  A  few  noble  buildings 
(especially  I  may  say,  some  which  adorn  our  own 
city  and  its  neighbourhood,)  have  given  a  wide 
spread  influence  to  a  better  taste,  and  the  ruling 
desire  is  now  evidently  for  the  pure,  rather  than  the 
showy.  It  is  true  that  our  means  or  our  spirit  have 
not  as  yet  warranted  the  erection  of  many  massive 
structures,  but  we  begin  to  see  on  every  hand  the 
well  proportioned  pediment,  the  harmonious  facade, 
and  interiors  studiously  correspondent  to  the  external 
style.  Perhaps  our  imitation  of  ancient  models  has 
been  even  too  strict.  There  must  be,  in  the  end, 


20 

more  adaptation  to  our  climate  and  peculiar  circum 
stances.  If  we  are  obliged  to  make  Egyptian  build 
ings  several  stories  high,  we  certainly  are  not  obliged 
to  confine  the  ornaments  to  the  eternal  scarabseus,  a 
most  unseemly  emblem  of  a  false  mythology ;  nor  in 
copying  the  lines  of  a  Grecian  temple  for  a  Christian 
church,  need  we  insist  upon  retaining  the  attributes 
of  the  heathen  god.  The  ancients  were  never 
guilty  of  such  mistakes.  There  was  an  intellec 
tuality  in  their  architecture,  which  always  expressed 
the  purpose  of  an  edifice,  not  only  in  its  general 
structure,  but  in  the  most  minute  decoration.  They 
never  built  a  temple  of  Plutus  in  the  noble  style 
which  enshrined  the  Olympian  Jove,  or  a  shrine  of 
the  virgin  Minerva  in  all  the  florid  luxuriance  which 
the  Corinthian  goddess  loved  so  well.  The  vine- 
wreaths  of  Bacchus  were  never  seen  on  the  gates 
of  Diana,  nor  the  peacock  of  Juno,  where  the  doves 
and  sparrows  of  Venus  should  have  sported.  But 
such  incongruities  (in  remarking  upon  which  I  may 
seem  hypercritical,)  will  soon  be  avoided.  Nice 
imitation  of  faultless  models  is  the  best  study  for  our 
infant  architecture.  After  the  mind  is  filled  with 
pure  ideas,  and  the  taste  refined  by  conversation 
with  perfect  forms,  we  shall  be  better  prepared  to 
combine,  adapt  and  invent. 

The   Gothic  order,    that  wonderful   combination 
of  solemn  grandeur  with  luxuriant  tracery,  which 


21 

astounds  and  enchants  the  American  traveller  in  Eu 
rope,  as  he  treads  the  aisles  of  time-worn  cathedrals 
and  crumbling  cloisters,  can  never  be  established 
among  us,  at  least  not  until  we  build  merely  for  the 
sake  of  building.  The  gloom  of  the  dark  ages,  in 
which  it  arose,  has  passed  away.  Our  churches  are 
now  the  abodes  of  clear  truth,  not  of  oppressive  mys 
tery;  places  of  lowly  and  glad  worship,  not  of  long 
processions  and  pompous  display.  The  Grecian  styles 
suit  our  religion  far  better.  The  false  poetry  of  "  a 
dim  religious  light"  does  not  agree  with  our  faith  in 
the  God  of  love,  who  lifts  upon  his  people  the  smile 
of  a  father's  countenance.  To  one  who  has  visited 
"  Fair  Melrose,"  "Fairy  Roslin,"  the  Seventh  Henry's 
Chapel,  the  sublime  Yorkminster,  the  ruins  of  an 
cient  St.  Joseph's  at  Glastonbury,  or  the  magnifi 
cent  cathedrals  and  bell  towers  on  the  continent, 
there  is  not  a  Gothic  building  in  our  land  that 
does  not  look  a  puny  and  ridiculous  abortion.  Yet 
candour  must  admit,  that  our  recent  ecclesiastical 
buildings,  after  the  Grecian  models,  promise  a  far 
better  taste  and  propriety  than  the  modern  churches 
in  our  mother  country.  The  high-backed  pews;  the 
inconvenient  and  meaningless  recesses  by  which  the 
church  is  tortured  into  the  shape  of  the  cross;  the 
gloomy  windows,  granting  little  light,  and  less  air; 
the  tub-like  pulpits,  in  which  the  preacher  suffers  like 
another  Regulus,  and  the  dizzy-  galleries,  where  the 


22 

people  look  like  swallows  on  the  house-top,  have 
given  place  to  arrangements,  which  enable  all  to  see 
and  hear  and  worship  without  doing  penance. 

It  has  been  objected  to  us,  that  we  use  inferior  ma 
terials,  such  as  wood  and  stuccoed  brick,  instead  of 
stone  and  marble;  and  it  were  well  if  we  could  afford 
to  employ  the  more  massive  and  durable;  but  certain 
ly  any  thing  is  better  than  red  brick  and  glaring  free 
stone.  It  is  not  an  improbable  theory,  that  the  pines 
of  Thessaly,  and  the  oaks  of  Dodona  in  Epirus,  gave 
the  Greeks  their  first  ideas  of  tall  columns  and  mas 
sive  pillars,  as  the  interbranching  of  the  Druid  groves 
taught  the  Gothic  arch.  The  architrave,  the  tri- 
glyphs  and  metopse,  are  memorials  of  the  use  of  tim 
ber  before  the  quarries  of  Pentelicus  were  opened. 
Why  may  we  not  hew  our  stately  trees  until  we  are 
able  to  copy  them  in  laborious  stone  ?  Why  may  we 
not  face  our  bricks  with  composition  until  we  can  do 
more  than  imitate  the  Romans,  who  faced  them  with 
marble?  Colour  and  form  are  far  more  important 
than  material.  I  am  grateful  to  every  citizen  who 
relieves  my  eye  by  painting  his  house  any  hue  but 
red,  provided  he  do  not  choose  a  tawny  yellow.* 

Encourage  yourselves,  gentlemen,  in  all  your  de 
partments,  by  this  rapid  growth  of  taste  in  architec 
ture.  It  assures  you  that  your  countrymen  have  an 

*  Appendix  (D.) 


23 

eye  for  proportion  and  purity,  to  which  no  art  of 
design  can  long  appeal  in  vain. 

Our  strong  national  enthusiasm  in  favour  of  every 
thing  American,  is  another  sure  ground  of  encou 
ragement.  We  have  often  carried  this  to  a  ridiculous 
excess ;  but  it  is  an  amiable  and  honourable  charac 
teristic  that  we  long  to  stand  well  in  the  opinion  of 
the  world;  nay,  it  is  a  philanthropic  wish,  which 
prompts  us  to  recommend  our  free  principles  for  uni 
versal  adoption.  It  is,  indeed,  mortifying  to  read 
the  extravagant  praise  lavished  by  kind-hearted  cri 
tics  upon  every  person  and  every  thing  that  appears 
before  the  public.  If  Cicero  were  to  arise  from  the 
dead,  and  pronounce  an  oration  before  us,  he  would 
be  obliged  to  share  epithets  with  every  fledgeling  lec 
turer,  or  electioneering  declaimer.  The  anonymous 
filler  up  of  the  poet's  corner  in  a  daily  newspaper, 
always  sings  like  Homer,  but 

"  Never  like  him  nods." 

A  surgeon  cannot  set  a  broken  finger,  or  a  physician 
administer  a  bolus,  but  the  grateful  patient  proclaims 
him  a  very  Aristotle  or  Hippocrates. 


"  He  beats  the  deathless  Esculapius  hollow, 
And  makes  a  starveling  druggist  of  Apollo." 


We  have  clever  men  undoubtedly.     We  have  had, 
still  have,  and  shall  have  great  ones.     But  all  the 


24 

Romans  were  not  Fabii ;  and  black  swans  are  rare 
as  ever,  except  in  New  Holland.  Even  American 
humanity  must  have  some  pigmies,  if  it  be  only  for 
the  sake  of  showing  off  our  giants  by  the  contrast. 
Such  injudicious  encomium  has  an  especially  mis 
chievous  effect  upon  the  young  Artist.  He  is  pecu 
liarly  sensitive  of  public  opinion.  I  will  not  say  that 
he  belongs  to 

"  A  simple  race,  who  waste  their  toil 
For  the  vain  tribute  of  a  smile ;" 

-i<**  ftoftf&d^fty  v*1  frV:»  r/#i  .ftstrnq  vt«4»g»fin&;;*  #du 
but  he  feels  that  it  is  not  enough  to  cry  with  the  Pi- 
san  before  his  own  works,  "  Bene !  Bene !"  without 
an  echo  to  his  exclamation.  It  is  the  hope  of  praise 
which  cheers  him  in  his  lone  and  enthusiastic  toil; 
and,  if  praise  be  withheld,  his  genius  droops  the  wing 
and  dies.  It  is  most  unkind  to  feed  this  generous  ap 
petite  into  morbid  extravagance,  as  unkind  as  it  was 
in  that  populace  who  smothered  their  patriot  with 
the  robes  they  heaped  upon  him  for  his  honour.  Chi 
selling  a  head,  without  a  model,  from  a  rough  stone, 
does  not  make  a  Phidias  or  Thorwaldsen;  paint 
ing  one  fair  face,  a  Titian  or  a  Guido;  or  copying  a 
landscape,  a  Salvator  or  Poussin.  Long  study  and 
learning,  the  abandonment  of  many  a  habit,  and  patient 
failure,  were  necessary  to  raise  even  the  best  masters 
to  deserved  eminence.  Raffaelle  learned  from  Mas- 
saccio.  The  Artist,  even  when  he  finds  the  flattering 
unction  most  sweet,  knows  that  there  should  be  some 


25 

extraordinary  merit  to  deserve  it.  He  becomes  im 
patient  of  a  slow  and  sure  progress,  and  is  sadly 
tempted  to  substitute  eccentricity  for  boldness;  glare 
for  brilliancy;  or  dark  confusion  for  depth  of  shadow. 
He  varies  his  pursuit,  and,  forgetting  the  maxim, 
"  Non  omnes  oinnia,"  undertakes  to  excel  where  his 
genius  does  not  lead.  All  this,  the  more  prudent  and 
experienced  among  you  know  well,  but  a  word  of 
caution  may  not  be  lost.  Let  us  all  remember,  that 
the  truest  friendship  is  that  which  points  out  faults 
with  kindness,  and  praises  with  faithful  caution.  We 
learn  best  from  those  who  tell  us  when  we  are  wrong. 
The  most  ignorant  can  thus  teach  something,  as  the 
cobbler  who  criticised  the  shoe  of  Apelles,  or  an  in 
dignant  laundress,  who  protested  that  she  never 
washed  the  shirt  with  which  Jarvis  had  indued  her 
master. 

There  is  a  fault  in  our  country,  now  less  rarely 
met  with,  of  condemning  without  measure  or  excep 
tion,  every  thing  American.  It  is  chiefly  to  be  found 
among  those  who  return 


"  from  foreign  tour, 
Grown  ten  times  perter  than  before ;" 


too  good  to  be  plain  republicans,  after  having  unco 
vered  their  heads  to  royalty,  or  stood  within  the 
threshold  of  an  aristocratic  ball  room;  who  can 
talk  of  nothing  but  dinners  at  Very's;  ices  at  the 

D 


26 

Cafe  de  Paris,  or  green  oysters  at  the  Rocher  de 
Cancale;  who  have  either  not  mind  enough,  or  not 
heart  enough,  to  love  their  own  land  above  all  others. 
These  men  will  pass  through  your  exhibitions,  "  naso 
adunco,"  full  of  scraps  from  foreign  languages,  and 
abusing,  by  misuse,  the  terms  of  Art,  give  you  to  un 
derstand  that,  in  their  opinion,  nothing  which  you  can 
produce,  is  worth  looking  at  by  one  who  has  seen  the 
Buckingham  Gallery,  the  Louvre,  the  Vatican,  or  the 
Bourbon  Collections.  They  will  often  parade  upon 
their  walls  miserable  dark  daubs,  imposed  upon  them 
by  scheming  picture  dealers,  as  works  of  the  old  mas 
ters,  but  cannot  think,  for  a  moment,  of  buying  an 
American  picture.  Heed  them  not.  The  true  lover 
of  Art  sees  some  beauty  even  in  an  inferior  picture, 
and  can  detect  a  latent  power  in  the  new  and  name 
less  pencil.  He  must  prefer  the  best;  but,  as  a  critic 
and  a  patriot,  he  will  acknowledge  the  good  if  a  coun 
tryman  has  produced  it;  and,  for  Art's  sake,  he  is 
sure  to  encourage  merit,  however  slight  it  may  seem 
at  first  to  be.  There  is,  for  instance,  a  sign  of  a 
horse  in  Market  street,  which  I  often  see  in  my  walks; 
faulty  it  may  be,  in  many  particulars,  and  injured  by 
exposure  to  all  weathers,  and  yet,  I  venture  to  assert, 
that  one  who  can  look  at  it  without  some  degree  of 
pleasure,  would  scarcely  enjoy  Paul  Potter's  bull. 

Notwithstanding  these  opposite  errors,  we  may  rely 
with  confidence  upon  our  strong  sense  of  national 
reputation  for  the  support  of  Art.  Let  it  be  shown 


27 

by  your  skill  and  devotion,  that  the  Arts  do  embellish 
and  exalt  our  country,  and  they  shall  receive  a  grate 
ful  return  of  reward  and  honour. 

It  is  well  for  those,  who  have  sufficient  wealth,  to 
bring  among  us  good  works  of  foreign  or  ancient 
masters,  especially  if  they  allow  free  access  to  them 
for  students  and  copyists.  The  true  gems  are,  how 
ever,  rare,  and  very  costly.  A  single  masterpiece 
would  swallow  up  the  whole  sum,  which  even  the  rich 
est  in  this  country  would  be  willing  to  devote  in  the 
purchase  of  paintings.  I  hope,  however,  soon  to  see 
the  day,  when  there  shall  be  a  fondness  for  making 
collections  of  works  by  American  Artists,  or  those 
resident  among  us.  Such  collections,  judiciously 
made,  would  supply  the  best  history  of  the  rise  and 
progress  of  the  Arts  in  the  United  States.  They 
would,  more  than  any  other  means,  stimulate  Artists 
to  a  generous  emulation.  They  would  reflect  high 
honour  upon  their  possessors,  as  men  who  love  Art 
for  its  own  sake,  and  are  willing  to  serve  and  encou 
rage  it.  They  would  be  gratifying  in  a  high  de 
gree  to  the  foreigner  of  taste,  who  comes  curious  to 
observe  the  working  of  our  institutions  and  our  ha 
bits  of  life.  He  does  not  cross  the  sea  to  find  Van 
Dycks  and  Murillos.  He  can  enjoy  them  at  home; 
but  he  wishes  to  discover  what  the  children  of  the 
West  can  do  in  following  or  excelling  European  ex 
ample.  The  expense  of  such  a  collection  could  not 
be  very  great.  A  few  thousands  of  dollars,  less  than 
is  often  lavished  upon  the  French  plate  glass  and  lus- 


28 

tres,  damask  hangings,  and  Turkey  carpets,  of  a  pair 
of  parlours,  (more  than  which  few  of  our  houses  can 
boast)  would  cover  their  walls  with  good  specimens 
of  American  Art,  and  do  far  more  credit  to  the 
taste  and  heart  of  the  owner.  Rich  furniture,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  bad  taste  of  crowding  it  into 
such  petty  apartments,  is  little  better  than  a  selfish 
and  rude  ostentation  of  wealth,  to  excite  the  envy  of 
guests ;  and  it  is  not  in  human  nature  to  think  better 
of  others,  who  insist  upon  showing  that  they  are 
richer  than  we.  Riches,  though  they  gain,  for  obvi 
ous  reasons,  outward  deference,  when  they  are  mere 
riches  without  taste  or  refinement,  are  always  se 
cretly  despised,  and  their  possessors  are,  in  the  judg 
ment  of  the  world,  like  vile  pottery  upon  which 
gold  has  been  wasted  in  useless  gilding.  There  are 
those,  who  cannot  look  upon  a  mirror  without  seeing 
within  it  a  beautiful  picture,  dearer  to  their  eyes  than 
any  other  upon  earth;  but  many  of  us  would  prefer 
a  landscape  by  Coles  or  Doughty,  to  any  such  personal 
reflections  of  ourselves ;  and  care  little  whether  we 
trod  upon  Brussels  or  ingrain,  sat  upon  velvet  or  hair 
cloth,  if  we  might,  by  the  kind  bounty  of  our  enter 
tainer,  enjoy  the  genius  of  our  dear  native  land.  It 
has  become,  I  am  told,  unfashionable  to  put  pictures 
upon  the  walls,  except  it  be  in  a  gallery,  which  few 
can  afford  to  have.  If  so,  it  is  a  bad  habit,  which 
should  be  amended;  a  habit  which  must  lower  us  in 
the  scale  of  true  refinement,  and  greatly  impede  the 
progress  of  true  taste. 


29 

Our  national  enterprise,  in  pursuit  of  wealth,  will 
also  serve  the  cause  of  the  liberal  arts,  when  their 
value  is  better  understood.  A  large  portion  of  the 
population  of  Italy,  and  other  countries  of  the  old 
world,  live  upon  the  Arts  alone;  and  our  Artists,  if 
properly  encouraged,  would,  instead  of  being  com 
pelled,  as  many  of  them  are,  to  reside  abroad,  induce 
the  flow  of  wealth,  the  rewards  of  their  skill,  into 
their  native  land.  There  can  be  no  multiplication  of 
wealth  so  great  as  that  which  may  be  secured  by  the 
application  of  colours  to  a  sheet  of  canvass,  of  the 
chisel  to  a  block  of  stone,  or  of  the  graver  to  a  plate 
of  copper,  when  directed  by  the  hand  of  genius.  The 
colours  which  combined  to  make  a  masterpiece,  now 
worth  a  prince's  revenue,  were  originally  purchased 
for  a  few  dollars.  A  slight  etching,  by  Rembrandt, 
sold  at  auction,  a  few  years  since,  in  London,  for  a 
hundred  and  twenty  guineas;  and  the  late  William 
Carey,  whose  zeal  for  the  Arts  expired  only  with  his 
life,  asserts,  in  his  Address  to  your  Association,  that 
the  copper  plate  on  which  Woollet  engraved  West's 
Death  of  Wolfe,  produced  a  gain  of  not  less  than 
fourteen  thousand  pounds. 

The  influence  of  Art  upon  necessary  trades  and 
manufactures  is  very  valuable.  The  more  graceful 
forms  are  ever  the  more  simple,  useful,  and  even  eco 
nomical  ;  and  the  most  common  articles  of  household 
service  may  be  profitably  modified  after  the  lines  of  a 
true  taste.  It  is  the  taste  displayed  in  the  colours 


30 

and  patterns  of  calicoes  and  ginghams,  which  urges 
their  sale  more  than  any  comparative  excellence  of 
the  fabrics;  and  the  country  girl,  who  chooses  her 
holiday  dress,  does  an  unwitting  homage  to  the  same 
genius  the  amateur  admires  in  the  finished  picture. 
The  cabinet  maker,  who  judiciously  copies  most  from 
the  antique,  will  find  the  most  ready  demand  for  his 
furniture,  even  from  those  wrho  never  dream  of  being 
indebted  to  liberal  art;  and  many  an  industrious  me 
chanic,  who  has  spent  hard  labour  upon  good  ma 
hogany,  and  wonders  why  his  ware  lingers  upon  his 
hands,  might-  find  the  secret  of  his  ill  success  in  a 
disproportioned  panel,  a  stumpy  column,  or  a  spindle 
leg.  It  is  well  known,  that  skilful  Artists  are  employ 
ed  by  the  manufacturers  of  useful  articles  in  Europe, 
to  suggest  their  forms  and  embellishments.  Wedge^ 
wood,  a  Staffordshire  potter,  secured  an  unrivalled 
pre-eminence  for  his  earthen-ware,  by  his  fortunate 
engagement  of  young  Flaxman  to  model  his  vessels. 
The  Artist,  thus  introduced  to  notice,  afterwards  be 
came  the  most  gifted  and  spiritual  sculptor  of  modern 
times ;  but  not  before  he  had  made  the  fortune  of  his 
early  patron,  and  improved  the  trade  of  England 
immeasurably;  so  that  it  may  with  truth  be  said, 
that  the  same  genius,  which  has  illustrated  the  sub 
lime  Homer  and  the  pure  Euripides,  turned  the  clay 
of  Staffordshire  into  more  than  gold.  Our  manufac 
tures  need  such  an  influence  from  Art  more  than  any 
thing  else,  and  a  liberal  and  far-sighted  patronage  of 


31 

Artists  would  soon  render  it  unnecessary,  in  the  judg 
ment  of  all,  to  strain  the  constitution  for  the  enact 
ment  of  protective  tariffs. 

But  we  may  look  for  the  success  of  Art  in  the  Uni 
ted  States  to  higher  causes.     The  remains  of  Puritan 
severity,  and  Quaker  stiifness,  with  the  incessant  de 
mands  upon  our  enterprise,  made  by  the  circum 
stances  of  a  new  country,  have  not  been  favourable 
to  the  development  of  genius  among  us;  yet  enough 
has  been  seen  to  show  that  our  people  have  a  strong 
sense  of  poetry  and  eloquence.    We  have  very  few 
great  poets,  but  we  have  very  many  whose  artless 
fingers  draw  sweet  and  glowing  strains  from  the  lute 
and  lyre.     Our  scenery,  our  noble  rivers,  rushing 
streams,  limpid  lakes,  wild  cascades,  deep  forests, 
gorgeous  sunsets,  clear  atmosphere,  and  autumnal 
variegation,  with  the  high  aspirations  which  freedom 
awakens  in  every  generous  bosom,  give  us  all  the 
thoughts  of  poetry.  The  power  of  expressing  thought 
in  rapid  and  energetic  language,  is  an  American  cha 
racteristic.     To  say  nothing  of  the  high  eloquence 
which  is  heard  in  our  legislative  halls,  our  courts  of 
justice  and  our  pulpits,  there  is  scarcely  a  man  among 
us  who  cannot  rise,  upon  a  fitting  occasion,  and  ha 
rangue  in  good  set  phrases.    Our  'prentice  mechanics 
meet  at  the  close  of  the  day's  labour,  to  cultivate 
their  talents   in  essays  and  debates.     The  crowds 
which  have  thronged  this  hall,*  and  other  places  of 

*  The  Hall  of  the  Musical  Fund  Society. 


32 

assemblage  throughout  the  whole  country,  to  listen 
eagerly,  and  with  no  small  discrimination,  to  multi 
tudes  of  clever  orators,  for  years  past,  demonstrate 
a  general  appreciation  of  eloquence.  What  is  Art 
but  another  form  of  poetry  and  eloquence?  When 
do  we  feel  the  power  of  the  bard  or  of  the  orator 
nlost?  Is  it  not  when  he  brings  the  idea  he  would 
impress,  fully,  as  in  a  picture,  before  the  eye  of  the 
mind?  Phidias  assured  his  countrymen  that  Homer 
was  his  master;  and  we  can  never  enter  as  deeply 
into  the  spirit  of  the  great  tragic  writers  of  Attica, 
as  when  we  behold  their  thoughts  made  visible  in  the 
designs  of  Flaxman.  Who  that  has  looked  upon  the 
statue  of  the  Dying  Gladiator,  but  has  felt  the  power 
of  the  sculptor  and  the  poet  to  be  of  kindred  source, 
when  he  remembered  Byron's  picture  of  the  same 
victim ! 

"  I  see  before  me  the  Gladiator  lie ; 

He  leans  upon  his  hand,  his  manly  brow 
Consents  to  death,  but  conquers  agony, 

And  his  droop'd  head  sinks  gradually  low, 

And  through  his  side  the  last  drops  ebbing  slow, 
From  the  red  gash,  fall  heavy,  one  by  one, 

Like  the  first  of  a  thunder  shower;  but  now 
The  arena  swims  around  him ;  he  is  gone, 
Ere  ceased  the  inhuman  shout  which  hailed  the  wretch  who  won. 

He  heard  it,  but  he  heeded  not — his  eyes 

Were  with  his  heart,  and  that  was  far  away ; 
He  recked  not  of  the  life  he  lost  nor  prize, 

But  where  his  rude  hut,  by  the  Danube  lay, 

There  were  his  young  barbarians  all  at  play — 


33 

There  was  their  Dacian  mother — he,  their  sire, 

Butchered  to  make  a  Roman  holiday — 
All  this  rushed  with  his  blood — Shall  he  expire 
And  unrevenged  1    Arise,  ye  Goths,  and  glut  your  ire !" 

A  young  pupil  of  Thorwaldsen,  has  recently  sur 
prised  and  delighted  the  admirers  of  genius  at  Rome, 
by  a  figure  of  a  girl,  holding  a  sea-shell  to  her  ear, 
and  listening  with  childlike  wonder  to  the  mysterious 
sounds  of  the  ocean  she  seems  to  hear  from  within 
it.  A  more  exquisite  subject  for  the  chisel  can 
scarcely  be  imagined;  and  it  is  most  unlikely  that 
the  young  German  ever  read  Wordsworth's  Excur 
sion,  yet,  in  that  most  natural  poem,  we  find  the  same 
thought. 

"  I  have  seen 

A  curious  child,  who  dwelt  upon  a  tract 
Of  inland  ground,  applying  to  his  ear 
The  convolutions  of  a  smooth-lipp'd  shell, 
To  which,  in  silence  hushed,  his  very  soul 
Listened  intensely  ;  and  his  countenance  soon 
Brightened  with  joy;  for  murmurings  from  within 
Were  heard,  sonorous  cadences,  whereby, 
To  his  belief,  the  monitor  expressed 
Mysterious  union  with  its  native  sea. 
Even  such  a  shell  the  universe  itself 
Is,  to  the  ear  of  faith." 

Here  is  a  picture  by  a  poet,  the  scenery  of  which 
a  Claude  should  paint,  and  a  Guido  Reni  put  in  the 

figure : 

E 


34 

"  As  o'er  the  lake,  in  evening's  glow, 

The  temple  threw  its  lengthening  shade 
Upon  the  marble  steps  below, 

There  sat  a  fair  Corinthian  maid, 
Gracefully  o'er  a  volume  bending; 

While  by  her  side  a  youthful  sage 
Held  back  her  ringlets,  lest,  descending, 

They  should  o'ershadow  all  the  page." 

I  have  not  time  for  more  instances,  which  are  abun 
dant.  The  coincidence  between  Art  and  Oratory, 
though  equally  striking,  is  more  difficult  of  illustra 
tion;  for  the  orator  is  ever  pressing  forward  to  his 
conclusion,  and  the  pictures  he  presents  to  us,  are 
moving,  or  he  shifts  scene  after  scene,  as  he  follows 
thought  with  thought.  Yet  how  fully  does  Massillon 
bring  before  us  the  Magdalene  kneeling  at  the  Sa 
viour's  feet,  in  the  house  of  the  Pharisee  ?  What 
can  be  finer  than  the  manner  in  which  he  contrasts 
the  death  of  the  sinner  with  that  of  the  righteous 
person;  how  perfectly,  with  a  painter's  imagination, 
does  he  set  off  the  lights  of  the  one  with  the  sha 
dows  of  the  other?  But  Massillon,  in  his  Life  of  Cor- 
reggio,  proves  how  deep  his  sympathy  with  Art  was. 
Barrow's  description  of  the  crucifixion,  in  his  sermon 
on  the  passion  of  our  Lord,  might  be  studied  by  the 
Artist  for  a  better  picture  than  has  ever  been  pro 
duced  on  the  subject.  Then,  what  noble  illustra 
tions  of  moral  truth  might  be  copied  from  portions 
of  Burke's  Speeches  in  Parliament  ?  What  force  of 


35 

grouping  and  expression  is  there,  when  Anthony  de 
scribes  the  death  of  Caesar,  as 

"  In  his  mantle  muffling  up  his  face, 
Even  at  the  base  of  Pompey's  statue,  which 
All  the  while  ran  blood,  great  Caesar  fell." 

But  I  need  not  detain  you  with  further  examples,  to 
show  that 

"All  they 

Whose  intellect  is  an  o'ermastering  power, 
Which  still  recoils  from  its  encumbering  clay, 

Or  lightens  it  to  spirit,  whatsoe'er 
The  form  which  their  creations  may  essay, 

Are  kin ;  the  kindled  marble's  bust  may  wear 
More  poesy  upon  its  speaking  brow, 

Than  aught  less  than  the  Homeric  page  may  bear. 

One  noble  stroke  with  a  whole  life  may  glow, 

Or  sanctify  the  canvass  till  it  shine 
With  beauty  far  surpassing  all  below, 

*  *  *  * 

Transfused,  transfigured ;  and  the  line 
Of  poesy,  which  peoples  but  the  air 
With  thoughts  and  beings  of  the  mind  reflected, 
Can  do  no  more." 

The  people  that  can  feel  the  glow  and  grandeur  of 
thought,  must  feel  Art,  when  there  are  productions 
worthy  of  the  name. 

The  common  opinion  may  be  quoted  against  this 
argument,  that  Art  flourishes  best  where  popular  su 
perstitions,  especially  in  religious  mythology,  supply 
subjects  for  the  Artist's  illustration.  That  opinion  is, 


36 

however,  an  error.  The  real  merit  and  charm  of  Art 
is  truth,  and  it  can  never  derive  a  real  advantage 
from  falsity.  It  was  not  the  god,  the  ancients  ad 
mired  in  the  Phidian  Jupiter,  but  the  dignity  of 
conscious  power.  Venus  was  the  ideal  of  voluptu 
ous  beauty,  and  Minerva  of  pure  and  harmonious 
wisdom.  It  is  deep  penitence,  charmed  by  hope  from 
its  despair,  that  we  see  in  the  Magdalene;  a  mother's 
serene  and  holy  joy  in  the  Virgin  Mary,  showing  her 
infant  Jesus;  and  faith,  struggling  with  mortal  agony, 
in  the  dying  Bartholomew.  It  is  not  the  person,  but 
the  attributes,  which  move  our  souls. 

But  are  there  no  subjects  among  us,  which  may  be 
made  the  vehicles  of  such  impressions?  Would  not 
the  moral  advantage  of  Art  be  far  greater  if  illustra 
tions  of  virtue  were  drawn  from  actual  incidents,  or 
presented  in  pure  allegory?  That  change  has  taken 
place  in  poetry.  We  hear  no  more  of  Strephons  and 
Phillises,  in  our  pastorals;  and  a  bard  of  our  own 
day,  who  would  invoke  the  "heavenly  nine,"  or 
"  Phoebe,"  or  the  "  Golden-haired  God  of  Day,"  would 
find  them  unable  to  propitiate  us  to  a  further  read 
ing.  Why  may  not  Art  be  stripped  of  unnatural  en- 
velopements?  Our  history,  our  daily  lives  are  full  of 
subjects  for  the  painter's  study; — the  mother  of  Wash 
ington  teaching  her  boy  those  sublime  lessons,  which, 
by  the  grace  of  God,  made  him  "  first  in  war,  first  in 
peace,  first  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen;"  Patrick 
Henry,  denouncing  the  tyranny  of  Britain,  in  the 


37 

Virginia  council  house;  the  patriot-mother  arming  her 
first-born  for  the  doubtful  conflict;  the  virgin,  tearless 
in  her  lofty  hope,  sending  her  lover  to  the  long  cam 
paign,  and  promising  her  livelong  faith  for  no  less 
reward  than  her  country's  freedom.  Or,  if  you  wish 
a  presentment  of  venerable  piety,  holy  benevolence 
and  wisdom  in  meekness,  bid  the  sculptor  preserve  in 
undying  marble  the  patriarchal  form  of  him,  whom 
every  sect  acknowledged  "a  Father  in  God;"  and 
who  lingered  so  long  among  us,  shedding  his  soft  re 
ligion  around  like  the  mild  rays  of  a  summer's  sunset, 
that  he  seemed  like  virtue  which  can  never  die, 
though  heart  and  flesh  must  fail.  It  is  a  shame  to  us, 
as  a  religious  community,  that  such  a  work  remains 
to  be  done.* 

It  is  in  employments  like  these  Art  must  find  her  no 
blest  office.  No  patriot,  no  moralist,  no  true  lover  of 
Art,  should  wish  to  see  genius  prostituted  in  producing 
nude  and  voluptuous  figures,  appealing  to  profligate 
pruriency  for  reward,  and  corrupting  our  morals  in 
return.  Such  abuse  has  done  more  to  prejudice  the 
good  against  Art  than  all  else  beside.  But  such  abuse 
is  not  a  necessary  consequence  of  its  cultivation,  any 
more  than  of  the  pen  or  the  press,  those  mighty  en 
gines  of  social  good,  though  vile  men  have  often  se 
duced  them  from  their  true  purpose.  Let  it  be  your 

*  The  late  Bishop  White.     Appendix  (E.) 


care,  gentlemen  Artists,  to  guard  the  fire  of  genius 
with  vestal  watchfulness. 

There  never  was,  I  believe,  a  body  of  Artists  in 
whom  greater  confidence  can  be  reposed  for  this  end, 
than  those  of  our  country.  The  time  has  gone  by, 
when  profligacy  was  excused  as  an  eccentricity  of 
genius;  when  talent  had  impunity  in  the  breach  of 
contracts,  and  envy  and  detraction  made  enemies  of 
brothers  in  Art.  You  have  proved  to  us  that  Artists, 
to  deserve  an  entrance  into  your  fraternity,  must  be 
gentlemen,  to  whom  truth  and  honour  and  liberal  feel 
ing,  are  dearer  even  than  fame  itself.  Your  generous 
desire  that  no  distinction  in  the  national  patronage 
should  be  made,  between  the  native  Artist  and  the 
foreigner  resident  among  you,  is  a  high  example 
of  philosophic  freedom  from  petty  jealousy,  which 
might  be  imitated  with  advantage  in  some  other 
quarters.*  Hold  on  your  noble  course.  You  shall 
reap  the  reward  which  virtue  and  genius  deserve. 
You  will  ask  no  more.  Trial  is  the  lot  of  genius,  as 
the  fire  which  purifies;  but  the  consciousness  of  high 
aims  is  an  ever-present  consolation.  If  I  dared  to 
assume  such  language,  I  might  address  you,  as 
Wordsworth  did  the  painter,  Haydon : 

"  High  is  our  calling,  friends,  creative  art 
(Whether  the  instrument  of  words  she  use 
Or  pencil  pregnant  with  ethereal  hues) 

*  Appendix  (F.) 


39 

Demands  the  service  of  a  mind  and  heart, 
Though  sensitive,  yet  in  their  weakest  part 

Heroically  fashioned, — to  infuse 

Faith  in  the  whispers  of  the  lonely  muse, 
While  the  whole  world  seems  adverse  to  desert. — 

And  oh !  when  nature  sinks,  as  oft  she  may 
Through  long-lived  pressure  of  obscure  distress, 
Still  to  be  strenuous  for  the  high  reward, 

And  in  the  soul  admit  of  no  decay, 
Brook  no  continuance  of  weak  mindedness — 

Great  is  the  glory,  for  the  strife  is  hard !" 


Let  me  also  intreat  from  you,  a  grateful  venera 
tion  for  that  Divine  Author  and  Benefactor  of  our 
being,  who  has  surrounded  us  with  so  many  objects 
of  beauty  and  grandeur,  and  given  us  an  eye  and 
heart  to  enjoy  the  loveliness  and  magnificence  of  his 
works.  Shall  we  feel  the  rapture  He  enkindles  in 
our  souls,  and  return  no  adoration  and  trust?  Are 
not  all  his  doings  in  nature  intimations  of  Himself, 
faint  shinings  forth  of  that  world  of  beauty,  love,  and 
truth,  into  which  he  will  receive  all  who  know  Him 
here  ?  If  "  an  undevout  astronomer  be  mad,"  so 
must  be  an  infidel  artist :  for  he  lives  among  mira 
cles,  and  owns  no  faith.  Believe  me,  genius  hath  no 
school  like  Religion,  no  teacher  like  Christian  Hope. 
No  where  but  in  that  Book,  whose  author  hath  writ 
His  name  on  nature,  can  we  find  such  depths  of  ten 
derness,  such  loftiness  of  thought,  such  imaginations 
of  glory,  such  purity  of  truth.  Our  calling  here 
should  ever  be  a  preparation  for  immortality.  Poor 


40 

will  be  the  result  of  the  most  successful  search  after 
this  world's  honours,  if,  when  life's  last  scene  has 
shifted  from  before  us,  we  are  not  permitted  to  hear 
the  voice  of  the  Redeemer  saying,  "  Friend,  come  up 
higher."  There  is  but  one  way  that  leads  to  that 
sublime  rest,  where  the  soul  lives  in  the  blessedness 
of  her  strength.  There  is  but  one  portal  through 
which  we  can  pass  to  behold  the  face  of  God  in  love. 
It  is  the  way  of  holy  faith,  fruitful  in  good  works ;  the 
perfect  merit  of  the  Lamb  of  God.  May  that  faith, 
and  that  inheritance,  be  given  to  us  all ! 


APPEiNDIX. 


(A.) 

In  no  department  of  Art  has  there  been  a  more  rapid  advance  than 
in  the  application  of  water  colours,  for  a  few  years  past.  The  British 
Society  of  Water  Colour  Painters,  have,  in  their  several  exhibitions, 
shown  results  surprising  and  delightful,  which  are  but  promises  of 
yet  more  exquisite  perfection.  The  cheapness  and  facility  of  this  Art 
should  recommend  it  to  an  increased  attention  in  this  country,  as  well 
calculated  to  enlarge  and  refine  the  general  taste  among  us. 


(B.) 

Some  allusion  to  the  fact  here  stated,  may  be  found  in  a  very  in 
teresting  address  of  our  estimable  fellow  citizen,  Mr.  Thomas  I.  Whar- 
ton,  before  the  Society  for  the  Celebration  of  the  Landing  of  William 
Penn,  some  years  since.  Mr.  D.  P.  Brown  has  also  treated  it  with 
his  wonted  spirit,  in  his  letter  to  Lord  Brougham. 


(C.) 

I  have  no  doubt,  but  that  a  better  knowledge  than  my  own,  would 
have  suggested  the  names  of  not  a  few  other  of  our  native  Artists  as 
worthy  of  mention;  and  it  is  particularly  pleasing  to  know,  that  there 
are  those,  yet  young  in  years  and  Art,  who  bid  fair  to  need  no  friend 
ly  herald  to  precede  them  in  their  way  to  well  deserved  fame. 

P 


42 


(D.) 

The  author  would  not  condemn  all  shades  of  yellow  in  the  painting 
of  houses,  but  only  the  more  glaring  and  the  more  heavy.  There  is 
a  pale  gentle  yellow,  (I  use  the  term  not  with  artistical  niceness,  but 
in  its  common  sense,)  which  is  very  pleasing ;  but  even  red  itself  is 
almost  as  tolerable,  as  the  vulgar  gaudiness,  or  the  dull  deadness, 
with  which  some  of  our  citizens  have  coated  their  buildings. 


(E.) 

I  am  happy  to  learn  that  the  subscription  list  to  an  engraving,  now 
in  progress  by  Wagstaff,  of  London,  from  Mr.  Inman's  admirable 
whole  length  of  the  good  Bishop,  shows  a  very  general  reverence  and 
love  for  his  memory,  as  it  embraces  the  names  of  persons  belonging 
to  every  religious  denomination  in  this  city.  Some  yet  more  durable 
and  public  monument  should,  however,  be  erected  to  commemorate  such 
unusual  worth.  It  is  to  be  hoped,  that  the  design  talked  of  some  years 
since,  of  a  monumental  statue  in  the  vestibule  of  Christ's  Church,  may 
be  revived.  Few  among  us  would  refuse  to  contribute  for  the  pur 
pose,  and  we  shall  not  soon  have  so  fair  an  opportunity  of  securing  a 
costly  work  of  Art,  which  will  do  honour  at  once  to  the  taste  and  the 
religious  sentiment  of  our  community.  Inmaii's  picture,  (or  the  en 
graving  from  it,)  will  afford  the  sculptor  the  best  authority,  as  it  is 
considered  by  the  family  and  friends  of  the  Bishop,  to  be  as  remarka 
ble  for  its  truth  of  resemblance  as  for  its  power  of  execution. 


(F.) 

I  am  happy  to  have  here  an  opportunity  of  spreading  before  the 
public,  the  noble  Memorial  of  the  Artists  of  Philadelphia  to  the  Con 
gress  of  the  United  States,  at  the  time  when  there  was  some  hesitancy 
as  to  the  propriety  of  giving  the  public  patronage  to  any  Artists  not 
born  among  us.  It  is  a  paper  full  of  philosophic  truth  and  generous 
sentiment,  and  one  which  the  opponent  of  all  artificial  restrictions 
upon  industry  and  invention  cannot  appreciate  too  highly. 


43 


To  the  Honourable  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States,  in  Congress  assembled. 

The  Memorial  of  "The  Artists'  Fund  Society  of  Philadelphia,"  an  in 
stitution  conducted  exclusively  by  Artists,  and  incorporated  April 
29,  1835,  "  for  the  purpose  of  advancing  the  happiness  of  their  pro 
fessional  brethren,  and  of  promoting  the  cultivation  of  skill,  the  dif 
fusion  of  taste,  and  the  encouragement  of  living  professional  talent 
in  the  Arts  of  Painting,  Sculpture,  Architecture,  and  Engraving," 

RESPECTFULLY  REPRESENTS  : 

That  your  memorialists  have  heard,  with  infinite  pleasure,  of  a  pro 
position  made,  or  about  to  be  made,  before  Congress,  for  the  execution 
of  sculptural  decorations  of  the  east  front  of  the  Capitol,  at  the  seat 
of  the  National  Government,  in  conformity  with  the  requisitions  of  the 
original  for  the  completion  of  that  front ;  and  they  deem  it  not  impro 
per,  as  citizens  of  the  United  States,  having  an  interest  in  all  that  re 
lates  to  the  Arts,  to  exercise  a  privilege,  in  common  with  other  pro 
fessions,  of  presenting,  for  the  consideration  of  your  honourable  body, 
their  views  of  what,  in  their  opinion,  may  advance  the  public  good, 
and  contribute  to  elevate  the  character  of  those  Arts  which  have  al 
ways  been  the  means  of  transmitting  to  posterity  a  knowledge  of  the 
state  of  refinement  and  intellectual  standing  of  a  people. 

It  is  a  gratifying  evidence  of  the  improvement  of  the  times,  that 
while  the  Useful  Arts  are  most  liberally  encouraged  throughout  this 
vast  Republic ;  while  public  buildings,  canals,  rail-roads,  and  manufac 
tories  are  rapidly  springing  into  existence,  and  human  ingenuity  and 
skill,  in  all  departments  of  the  Mechanic  Arts,  are  stimulated  to  vi 
gorous  and  renewed  exertion,  Congress  has  not  forgotten  to  foster 
and  encourage  the  Fine  Arts. 

The  orders  already  given  for  a  new  device  to  our  national  coin ;  the 
intended  decoration  of  the  interior  of  our  National  Hall  with  paint 
ings,  and  the  exterior  with  sculpture,  afford  an  honourable  employ 
ment  to  our  Artists ;  and,  if  well  executed,  will  both  promote  their 
own  excellence  and  advance  the  public  taste. 

Without  meaning  to  institute  invidious  comparisons,  or  to  dictate 


44 

to  those  upon  whom  the  selection  of  an  Artist  for  employment  upon 
the  Capitol  devolves,  your  memorialists  respectfully  present  to  your 
notice  the  name  of  LUIGI  PERSICO,  a  sculptor,  now  in  Washington, 
who  both  as  an  Artist  and  a  man,  is  entitled  to  distinguished  conside 
ration. 

Mr.  Persico  is  an  Italian  by  birth,  and  your  memorialists  are  aware 
that  many  of  their  countrymen  believe  that  none  but  natives  are  en 
titled  to  Government  patronage :  but  your  memorialists  dissent  from 
this  doctrine,  and  entertain  the  opinion  that  Artists  of  genius  and  high 
moral  character,  whose  works  have  a  tendency  to  exalt  the  senti 
ments,  and  refine  the  manners  of  the  age,  should,  upon  the  fair  prin 
ciples  of  competition,  find  an  easy  passport  to  employment  in  any 
part  of  the  civilized  world. 

It  would  be  a  matter  of  regret,  if  our  countrymen  should  be  found 
less  liberal  than  the  people  of  other  nations,  in  availing  themselves  of 
the  skill  of  accomplished  foreign  Artists,  whose  merit  is  so  often  ac 
companied  by  valuable  information  and  refined  taste.  The  examples, 
in  this  respect,  which  have  been  set  for  us  abroad,  are  worthy  of  emu 
lation.  We  may  point  to  the  recent  case  of  our  gifted  countryman 
West,  whose  name  was  rendered  illustrious  by  the  generous  opportu 
nities  extended  to  him  in  a  foreign  land,  for  the  development  of  his 
genius  in  the  highest  department  of  painting ;  who  was  honoured  by 
the  personal  favours  of  the  British  monarch ;  and  even  when  the 
fame  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  the  founder  of  the  English  school,  was 
at  its  height,  received  the  appointment  of  Historical  Painter  to  the 
King.  But  the  American  Artist,  in  the  true  spirit  of  republican  sim 
plicity,  rejected  the  royal  proffer  of  knighthood,  received  a  more  ho 
nourable  distinction — the  presidential  chair  of  the  Royal  Academy  of 
Arts,  given  by  the  vote  of  the  English  Artists.  Copley,  too,  an  Ame 
rican,  was  honourably  received  and  encouraged  in  England,  as  were 
our  Leslie,  our  Newton,  and  others,  who  long  since  were  acknow 
ledged  to  be  distinguished  ornaments  of  the  British  school.  Much 
might  be  said,  likewise,  of  the  liberal  encouragement  held  out  to  fo 
reigners  upon  the  European  continent:  a  striking  instance  of  which 
is  presented  in  Thorwaldsen,  by  birth  a  Swede,  who  was  drawn  from 
obscurity  by  the  fostering  care  of  foreign  patronage,  and  is  now  the 
boast  of  the  Italian  school  of  sculpture.  This  may,  possibly,  be  the 


45 

first  petition  which  has  reached  your  honourable  body  from  a  Society 
of  Artists;  but,  unobtrusive  as  their  profession  may  be,  your  memo 
rialists  gladly,  in  the  present  instance,  avail  themselves  of  their  con 
stitutional  privilege,  to  present  to  you  their  decided  conviction,  that,  to 
give  an  intellectual  character  to  the  Arts  of  a  country,  they  must  be 
advanced  to  that  standard  by  the  impulse  of  unrestricted  competition 
and  generous  patronage,  and  that  regard  should  be  had  to  no  other 
qualifications  but  those  of  merit ;  and  that  an  equal  influence  should 
be  shed  upon  all  who  reside  among  us,  whether  their  birth-place  be  in 
this  or  in  another  land.  Therefore,  dismissing  every  narrow  jealousy 
and  contracting  prejudice,  it  is  with  pride  that  your  memorialists — 
the  greater  part  of  whom  are  native  citizens — advance  this  doctrine, 
which  they  firmly  believe  involves  the  welfare  of  the  Arts  of  their 
beloved  country. 

Your  memorialists,  in  conclusion,  respectfully  pray  that  your  ho 
nourable  body  will  allow  to  Mr.  Persico's  merits  the  weight  to  which 
they  are  justly  entitled,  and  that  you  will  adopt  such  measures  as  your 
wisdom  may  dictate  in  favour  of  the  object  of  this  Memorial. 

By  order  of  the  Artists'  Fund  Society. 

JOHN  NEAGLE,  President. 
THOMAS  B.  ASHTON,  Secretary. 

Philadelphia,  February  1,  1R37. 


THE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  SANTA  CRUZ 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  DATE  stamped  below. 


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